Uncle Tom's Cabin Or Life Among the Lowly

The 1853 edition ofUncle Tom's Cabin--known as the "Splendid Edition"--includes 117 detailed, evocative illustrations by Hammatt Billings. An introduction by Bancroft-winning historian David S. Reynolds provides a general introduction discussing the history of the Splendid Edition and the role Stowe's novel played in fomenting the Civil War, a role reinforced by the story that when Abraham Lincoln met Stowe at the start of the Civil War, he declared, "So this is the little lady who made this big war." The quote is apocryphal, but it has no doubt endured as it expresses a greater truth about the book's influence on readers of the time.

David S. Reynolds is Distinguished Professor of English and American Studies at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. His newest book is Mightier than the Sword: Uncle Tom's Cabin and the Battle for America.